Though the US won't boycott the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, President Obama has
made it clear what he thinks of Russia's anti-gay legislation and their shameful
treatment of gays and lesbians.

The President has selected three openly gay athletes in the US
delegation for the opening and closing ceremonies. For the first time since
2000, neither a President, former President, First Lady, Vice President nor any
high-level American official will attend the games.

The three openly gay athletes who will be heading to Sochi are tennis star
and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Billie Jean King, Olympic ice hockey
medalist Caitlin Cahow and Olympic figure skating gold medalist Brian Boitano,
who chose the occasion to officially step out of the closet.

"I am many things: a son, a brother, and uncle, a friend, an athlete, a cook,
an author, and being gay is just one part of who I am," Boitano said in a
statement.

Billie Jean King said, "I am equally proud to stand with the members of the
LGBT community in support of all athletes who will be competing in Sochi and I
hope these Olympic Games will indeed be a watershed moment for the universal
acceptance of all people."

Michael Cole-Schwartz, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, said, "It's a
positive sign to see openly gay representatives in the delegation. Hopefully, it
sends a message to the Russian people and the rest of the world that the United
States values the civil and human rights of LGBT people."

France and Germany will join the US in not sending their elected officials to
Sochi. France legalized gay marriage this year, while Germany has legally
recognized same-sex civil unions since 2001.

In the fallout over Wednesdays suspension
of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson by A&E for anti-gay and racist
remarks, GLAAD is experiencing record levels of backlash.

In the five-and-a-half years Ive worked at
GLAAD, Ive never received so many violently angry phone calls and social media
posts attacking GLAAD for us speaking out against these comments, the media
watchdog organizations vice president of communications Rich Ferraro told TheWrap.

He said those reactions range from those who
simply believe as Robertson believes to those who feel that GLAAD and A&Es
actions limit the reality stars free speech.

I dont think this is about the first
amendment, Ferraro said. I feel its more about the America we live in today.
That is one where Americans, gay and straight, are able to speak out when people
in the public eye make anti-gay and racist remarks.

Robertsons supporters have started petitions, called for boycotts
and include Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.
Currently, more than 70,000 people have signed the online petition asking
A&E to drop the suspension.

It just means we still have a lot of work
to do, Ferraro said.

GLAAD spoke with A&E representatives on
Wednesday morning to discuss why people would be offended by the comments and
calls to action. They took this very seriously, as soon as the news
broke, Ferraro said.

After the meeting, GLAAD issued its statement on Robertsons comments.
A&E initially released a statement from Robertson in which he said he would
never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me.
But the network declined to comment itself until Wednesday night, when it
announced the suspension, which GLAAD applauded.

We believe the next step is to use this as
an opportunity for Phil to sit down with gay families in Louisiana and learn
about their lives and the values they share, the spokesman said.

The organization is also currently researching companies who use Robertson as
a spokesperson.

New Mexico Becomes 17th State to Allow Gay
Marriage

The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously affirmed on Thursday the right of
same-sex partners to marry in the state, reasoning that the protections and
responsibilities that result from the marital relationship shall apply equally
to them and to opposite-sex couples.

With the ruling, which takes effect immediately, New
Mexico becomes one of 17 states and the District of Columbia to
permit same-sex marriage. Thirty-three states limit marriage to opposite-sex
couples. Todays decision is a powerful affirmation that same-sex couples are
equal members of New Mexicos diverse culture and must be given the same legal
protections and respect as other families, Shannon Price Minter, legal director
of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which joined the American Civil
Liberties Union to bring the case to court, said in a statement.

In a written opinion, the courts five justices agreed
that marriage rights for same-sex couples are guaranteed under the
equal-protection clause of the New Mexico Constitution, amended in 1972 to state
that equality of rights under law shall not be denied on account of the sex of
any person.

Justices weighed this amendment against the
oppositions argument that prohibiting same-sex marriage was necessary to
protect the governments overriding interest of responsible procreation and
childrearing.

The justices said in their opinion that such interest
played no role in the development of the states marriage regulations. Its
purpose, they contended, is to bring stability and order to the legal
relationship of committed couples by defining their responsibilities to one
another, their children if they choose to have them, and to their property.

Procreation, wrote Justice Edward L. Chavez, author
of the opinion, has never been a condition of marriage under New Mexico law, as
evidenced by the fact that the aged, the infertile and those who choose not to
have children are not precluded from marrying.

The decision capped years of failed attempts in the
State Legislature to have same-sex marriage legalized, or banned. In March, six
same-sex couples filed a lawsuit, bringing to court a battle that, until then,
had been governed primarily by political interests.

In August, a district judge ordered the clerks in
Bernalillo County  which encompasses the states most populous city,
Albuquerque  and Santa Fe County, which includes the states capital, to begin
issuing marriage licenses to same-sex partners. The 33 county clerks in New
Mexico intervened, asking the State Supreme Court to resolve the issue.

Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Ona Porter
and Miriam Rand, who have been together for 26 years and have three children.

After the Supreme Court decision became public on
Thursday, Ms. Rand said: Our kids get to feel they matter both legally and by
name.

Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, chose to stay away
from the dispute, although she has publicly taken the position that marriage
should be between a man and a woman. On Thursday, she talked about a proposal to
roll out high-tech research and development programs, and issued no comment on
the courts ruling.

The justices heard arguments on Oct. 23; spectators
packed three rooms in the historic territorial courthouse in Santa Fe. By then,
eight county clerks had begun granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
According to the states chapter of the A.C.L.U., more than 1,000 such couples
have already been married in New Mexico.

An appeal of Thursdays ruling is impossible, because
it was issued by the states highest court and is specific to the states
Constitution.

Dan Frosch contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on December
20, 2013, on page A22 of the New York
edition with the headline: New Mexico Is 17th State To Allow Gay
Marriage.

The world has gone upside down. Who would have thought that Utah would be
on the forefront of the marriage equality trend? Yet clerks
are starting to issue marriage licenses in the wake of a federal ruling
striking down the ban on same-sex marriages. And who would have thought that one
of the LGBTs biggest enemies helped pave the way?

No one would ever confuse Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia with a
friend of the LGBT community. But in striking
down Utahs ban on marriage equality Friday, U.S. District Court Judge
Robert Shelby referred to Scalia several times in his decision to support his
ruling. As it turns out, Scalias scathing
dissent against gay marriage also foresaw the exact problem that Shelby was
dealing with and gave Shelby important ammo for his decision.

The Utah ruling is a big, big deal. Its the first time after the Supreme
Court decision that a federal
judge has ruled on the right of states to ban marriage. This years victories in
New Jersey and New Mexico relied upon the state Supreme Courts there and had no
impact past the respective state lines. Shelby is dealing with federal law, not
state law, so his ruling has implications that go beyond Utahs borders. (And
just in case youre wondering what the 2012 election was about, Shelby was appointed by
Barack Obama.)

The problem with the Supreme Court ruling striking down DOMA was that it left
unstated the full implications of the decision. The justices preferred to punt
the issue to the states to deal with as they choose. But that creates chaos for
couples who marry in one state but arent recognized as married in another. It
also creates lawsuits, like the one in Utah.

For all his fuming about the DOMA ruling, Scalia was able to see the
implications of it clearly (and he hated what he saw). In his ruling, Shelby
said that striking down state bans on marriage equality was the logical outcome
of the Court ruling in Windsor, the Supreme Court DOMA ruling. Shelby quotes
Scalias prediction in his dissent:

In my opinion, however, the view that this Court will take of
state prohibition of same-sex marriage is indicated beyond mistaking by
todays opinion. As I have said, the real rationale of todays opinion .
. . is that DOMA is motivated by bare. . . desire to harm couples in
same-sex marriages. How easy it is, indeed how inevitable, to reach the
same conclusion with regard to state laws denying same-sex couples marital
status.

Just to rub judicial salt in Scalias wounds, Shelby notes that the court
agrees with Justice Scalias interpretation. In other words, the Supreme Court
left loose ends hanging, but it also clearly indicated how those ends will have
to be tied up.

The legal battle is far from over. Utahs attorney general plans to appeal
and is seeking a temporary injunction stopping the decision from taking effect.
The Mormon Church will hardly keep quiet about the ruling. And Utah is far and
away the most conservative state to face the issue, so there will be a lot more
resistance than there has been in other states.

But all of that said, the Utah ruling marks a major milestone for marriage
equality. If a state like Utah can be forced to admit that its ban on same-sex
marriage irreparably harms couples for no good reason, there really is no place
left where marriage equality cant succeed. Its always just been a matter of
time. It may just be a lot shorter time than we thought.

I
wonder if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) will
keep funneling millions and millions of dollars to Brain Brown and his National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) after their huge loss in Utah yesterday? Will
the LDS Church keep throwing good money after bad?

The Mormon Church ran
and its members funded every anti-gay marriage vote in over 30 states since
1998. Take a look at these secret Mormon Church documents courtesy of Mother Jones Magazine.

Last
year it appeared that the LDS Church pulled the plug and bowed out of the gay
marriage fight to avoid becoming an issue in the Romney campaign. This year
after Romney was no longer a factor, the Mormon Church jumped right back in to
the fray in Hawaii where it all began 15 years ago. The LDS Church
unsuccessfully tried to block the gay marriage law from passing there during a
recent special legislative secession called by Governor Abercrombie.

Dazzling Airline Video Captures Beauty of Flight

Air Tahiti Nui, the carrier of French Polynesia, released a behind-the-scenes
time-lapse video of flight operations from baggage loading to landing. The
carrier has been flying from the U.S and Europe to Tahiti for 15 years.

The video, according to News
Australia, was created by Matthieu Courtois, a 32-year-old technical
engineer from Tahiti who has been working for the airline since 2007, with the
help of pilot Ludovic Allain.

Using a go-pro, Courtois spent a month filming and editing the video, which
follows the airline's A340 planes as they fly from Auckland to Paris via Papeete
(French Polynesia) and Los Angeles, the site said.

The result is a rare look at what goes on behind the scenes, in the cockpit
and in the air. And of course, the gorgeous views of Tahiti from the air.